Kaley Cuoco & Elizabeth Olsen | Actors on Actors - Full Conversation

Do you think you'll do a second season of WandaVision? No. Oh no, you're done. I mean, with Marvel, you can never say no. People die, people... I really thought I had a major scoop for the entire world just now, but then she took it back very quickly. I did research on you, Kaley, and I have watched your interviews. Lizzie, I watched yours too. First of all, you're in a bathroom. I think we need to let everyone know. So this is my first work from home in my home because I've been doing it and I've been in the UK for seven months and I got back two days ago. And my neighbor is doing so much construction to their backyard and I can still hear it and I'm in the furthest bathroom. Well, we can't hear it, so you're going to have to use your acting skills to pretend like you don't. Yes. It's really crazy because when... First of all, you know how much I love you. I've loved you forever. I want to be best friends with you. We always run into each other. I'm like, God, I love her so much. I feel really close to you. The feeling is mutual. Thank you. I just adore you. But I feel even closer to you recently because I just finished both of your shows and I know you're shooting a film right now, right? You're shooting... I finished Doctor Strange 2. You finished it? Yeah. That must have been unbelievable. I have so many questions for you. I don't even know where to start. But how was that? That's when I was shooting in the UK. So I finished WandaVision... What month was it? It was October. This recent October. We did two months during the pandemic. And you shot also during the pandemic. Yes. I want to ask you, how was that for you guys? Luckily, even though we filmed in Atlanta and then we moved to LA, we had a lot of the same crew. So the mass didn't feel as awkward. There's still a fun spirit. And I think we were just so excited to finish the show. I think we had already worked about five months on it. It was just a long job. And so we were really excited to finish it. And I wrapped in October on a Wednesday and they flew me to London on a Friday. Oh my God. And you've been there ever since? Doing Doctor... Doing the same character for like two years almost. Wow. Well, I know what that's like. You guys, you've done that for... I don't even know how long. A decade? I was like, would you like to play the same character? Oh, I did that for 12 years. Is it 12 years? It was 12. Yeah. Which also feels like so far away. But when you were shooting... I'm curious because I think so few people have had an experience recently of shooting during the height of COVID. Did you... I felt like the bubble girl. Like no one wanted to come near me. I actually was like self-proclaimed bubble girl in my life. I was like, I love my friends. I love my family. I need to not see any of you for two months. And while I've been working in the UK, it's been locked down the whole time. Wow, God. Yeah, that's unbelievable. But yeah, I mean, so you filmed in New York though always, right? Or you guys went to Thailand? Yeah, we were in Thailand and Rome, which is so wild for flight attendant. Which I loved so much. And I looked forward to watching it. I was kind of annoyed that they came out with England. But it truly was part of like my England experience. We would hide our VPN and watch it every week. And it was so enjoyable. I loved it so much. And you are so, so, so good in it, Kaylee. Thank you. It is such a joy, joy, joy, joy to watch you. And it was the tone that you got to go between. I don't, I think only someone who says like, it's like, you can't help but be charming. And to play that character makes her so lovable that you're playing her. And it really just was, I had so much fun watching it. Thank you. You're so vulnerable in it. And you're so raw and funny. And it just was, it was just such a fun tone and interesting tone. Sorry. Hi, hello. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. No, can I help you? I asked for a soda. This is vodka. Oh, sorry. I misunderstood you. I thought you said, I thought you wanted both. Yeah. Can I just get a soda, please? Absolutely. My husband and I binge WandaVision together. We rarely watch the same things. And so we were like, we're going to watch this together and like bond over this. What we loved every, we were like, oh my God. And I didn't know, I did not see any of it coming. I didn't see the cap or not. How did you even keep it a secret? I would have liked been Instagramming. And I can't like, everyone has their Christmas gifts in October because I can't keep it a secret. That's so funny. You were so adorable and charming and real. It felt so real to me. And my husband obviously loves all those Marvel movies. And so this was a bit of a new genre for me to experience. And, but I love you so much. And then I went in to freaking sorry for your loss and my soul broke into a thousand pieces. That was, Lizzie, I cried. And I mean this so as a compliment, you broke my heart in that show. Thanks for watching it. You really didn't have to. No, no, no. I wanted to, and I would watch it on my phone and I was just, I could cry thinking about the pain that I watched you in. And then knowing you produced that as well. So I knew all the things you were probably going through, right? Like how did you feel with all the different hats? I've been getting asked that a lot and you've probably got asked a lot that too. I loved it. I was so excited to discover how we pick a crew and how to cast and how to, you know, and I heard that you also wanted to be on all of the chemistry reads. I did the same, like just was so excited to find the right people for it. And part of the pitching process, the whole thing, like I loved the, I loved being a part of something from the beginning to the end. And I think the thing that was hardest for me was Saturday was my day off, but Sunday was truly like making script notes, editing notes and preparing for the week. And so that was, and I, so I really enjoyed that kind of obsessive mode. I don't know how people do it back to back. Like, I don't know. I wouldn't know how to produce something else besides that show and be in it back to back. I feel like that would be really overwhelming because I think eventually sometimes you just want to be an actor and not have all the control. I agree with you. Did you watch dailies and editing and things like that? I don't watch playback either. No, no, no, no. But, but the dailies, that was like a whole learning experience, like process of watching an edit and thinking, oh no, I knew there was, there's something on the floor that you guys didn't put in. Can you try and find that take? And I just, I ended up being able to be objective, but now if I watch playback while doing like Dr. Strange, I just want to. That would be wild. Yeah, because Sam Raimi loves playback and he's like, come watch this. And then I'll like hear my voice and I just want to scream. But I got so used to watching myself and sorry if you're lost. As an actor though, do you have, do you have a process? I've been asked this question a lot recently and I really don't have one. And I was curious if like, are you a study or like what? I don't even know the word process. It's just not in my vocabulary. I am absolutely like a theater school over preparer. Like I want my lines memorized a week before at least something shot. And so we ended up having a rule on WandaVision because Marvel projects are always an adjustment. Like we always do rewrites. There are constant rewrites all the time. Really? Because we're trying to threaten like Tiana Paris. We launched her character. And so Marvel was getting more information of what they wanted to do with her character while we were filming. So like things like that had to be threaded. So there's like a whole thing moving. And so we just, and then, and then actors, I think as you know, love giving notes or wanting to change things. And because we were doing, because we were doing like seven pages a day at least. And the train is just like, you're saying like the train couldn't, like we were just going full speed ahead. It was such chaos changing this, like the sets had to be broken down at a certain time to put up a different decade. The exteriors had to be done by a certain day to change all the fences into a different decade's fence. And we just couldn't really stop and ask too many questions. So there was a rule that if you want any changes made that are gonna affect other people, it would be a week before. And so people, everyone had to prepare just so that we could, yeah. And then also because this was so specific to decades sitcoms and wanting to create something that felt authentic to each time, that was like a whole- Which you did, yeah. That was such like a whole sitcom bootcamp and just a continual reminder of what we had watched during our bootcamp together as a company. And it was really, really fun. Had you ever done a sitcom before? Have you ever done? No, it's so hard. We used to, we're non-sequiting, but we used to, it's funny. Obviously that's my whole life is sitcom. And especially with Big Bang, cause the cast was so, we were just like, it was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. There was no gap. We'd have these guest stars come on and some of them were wonderful actor, dramatic actors or whatever. And they would feel so lost for a while in our, because it really is so musical. And you find that if you're one second, it can mess up the whole kind of thing. But it's because I grew up with it and I did it for so long, it's been so natural for me, but I started to see, oh my God, this is hard for some people to come in and find their footing and work with the audience. And it's a weird, it's very different if you haven't done it. The audience part was crazy cause we did a live audience for the first episode and that was the first thing we shot. And so we just, we had one opportunity and then we had a day of pickups and that was it for the first episode. And I'd never done that before. Yeah, I was gonna ask you about if that was an audience. I was unsure how you guys did that. That is interesting. It was very confusing how to play to the camera, but like I was like projecting cause I'm used to stage. When I watched the first episode, I was so frustrated because I can see myself like, you know, my 10 year old theater kid self like playing out to the audience. But don't you feel like it was that era a little bit did that too. So I think I got away with it, knock on something. Oh no, you for sure did it. It actually looked, it was almost looked intentional. It looked like that time. It's like when I watch, I love Lucy or those, it's a totally different way they did things than the way we do it now. Well, I know the apron is a bit much dear, but I am doing my best to blend in. No, no, there on the calendar. Someone's drawn a little heart right above today's date. Oh yes, the heart. How young were you when you started working? Since I was five. And I have that answer quick cause everyone has asked me that and I realized, oh my God, I've been working since I was five. So your sitcom life experience picking flight attendant was the original material very dark and then you added the levity and created the tone based on what your natural inclinations are with storytelling? Yes, so when I found the book about four years ago and I read the book and the book is extremely dark. There is not one funny word in the book. There's nothing funny about the book. And I thought, okay, let me get the rights to this. This should be interesting and maybe it's a movie. And then I started sitting on, I'm like, no, I think it's a show. And then when we started, obviously talking about tone, which I laughed so hard the amount of times we use the word tone. I can't ever say the word tone again. Five, the convert, the tone. What's the tone? We never really had. I said, the tone is, it's me and we're gonna throw this girl into this horrible situation, but you're also gonna laugh and you're gonna cry and then you're gonna feel super awkward. It couldn't just be that darkness. I had to bring a little of the levity and we had to kind of walk that tight rope, which by the way, was a total challenge. But that's what made it great. Thank you. That's why I loved it because I couldn't put it in a box and that's what made it so enjoyable and thrilling to watch because you didn't know how things were going to be solved because it didn't feel like it followed a formula. Oh, that's so sweet. Thank you. It definitely did not because we didn't know how we were gonna really edit this because it was such a crazy tone. I was like, okay, I kind of found myself doing just a million different takes and one maybe this time I cried and the next I would laugh because we didn't know how we were gonna edit this thing together. I would go home some nights and I'm like, this is the biggest mistake of my life. I'm leaving. I can't, this is horrible. And then like the next day I'd like, we do a scene and I'm like, God, this is so good. Yeah, this is so fun. I would just go through these emotions. I was a psycho. One minute I thought we have to shut down. Cause I'm so bad. And then the next day we, oh, we're gonna like, we're nailing this. So it was, it was, it can really pull on the whole, the stress, the stress muscles. Will you please just let me get back to my normal life. You mean normal like the rabbits? Cause I really want to talk about the rabbits you saw when you were running out of that building. You saw that? Because you were such a leader on this. How did you explore that world with the other cast? And the crew? And how did you guys communicate or work together? Did you all just know that you're going to be really playful and figure out lots of different takes? And it was something natural that comes out of me. And instead of, I really do like to be in the moment. And actually it's funny. McKeel Heisman, who played Alex in Flight Attendant, who I adore. We laugh to this day because he's a big preparer. He really like, and wants to rehearse and block. And I would get there and be like, okay, can you just tell me where you need me to start and where you need me to end? And then we'll figure it out. But he was like, figure it out. So we had to kind of meet in the middle on how we came at this because that was how he worked and kind of how I worked. And I would kind of, and that does come from, I think my sitcom life of like, you kind of flail and you're finding things and you don't know what that person's going to do. And it's very quick. I'm a speed demon in life. I'm a speed demon when I work. Like I want to move, move, move. And some people need that time. But it was cool because a lot of the cast kind of jumped on that, on that plane with me in a way where they were kind of like, okay, we're going to play and we're going to see what happens. And a lot of what we had to kind of, you know, I had to meet them in the middle. It was a new, I came from 12 years of pretty much the same thing. I had to kind of slow down a little too, which was a learning experience for me. Yeah. I mean, it sounds a lot like how we had to film WandaVision because it just felt like we needed the energy first off because it's funnier. And we all just were trying to survive by going as like quickly as possible. Like there was no slowing down and there was no, the only time we would slow down is when we get into Marvel land. So we can actually try and figure out like how, I mean, Marvel's just such a strange beast. So crazy. Where you don't, you know, it's all just like the biggest stakes in the entire world. The world's going to, humans are going to die. But it's all about characters. So that's its own tone. That's hard to find. But when we're in the comedy world or the comedy zone or the sitcom zone, it was just like a speed demon, which I loved. As punishment for my reckless evening, I plan on taking a quarantine stylistication a whole day just to myself. Did you like sitcoms growing up? Was there anyone, any that you watched or? I did. I think the, well, the ones that we, I drew from were very specific to what we were, what we were referencing in each episode, like the Van Dyke show. I loved, I love Lucy growing up and Laverne and Shirley. And then I love the Brady Bunch movies. I love them too. The Brady Bunch movies are my, are that I think I was really ripping them off and not the Brady Bunch because. So I loved them so much growing up. So there are those kinds of shows that I did watch a lot growing up. And then like Family Matters, everything that was on Nick at Night. Oh yeah. Love Nick at Night. I saw an interview you were, it was actually for Sorry for Your Loss. They were asking you about producing and stuff. And you said something that I have found myself saying a lot recently. And it has to do with like your crew and the tone that you set as being the number one, as being the producer, as being this and this. I remember years ago, my first sitcom, my first show was with John Ritter. Yeah. Who was my entire world. Loved him to this day. I still feel like he's standing right there. I remember conversations when I was 15 years old where he said, you know, you have to remember when you're on a set, it's like a tree. Number one's here in any act, any way you act is all trickling down that tree. You also said you can be a boss, you can be a great actor, you can get work done, you can just be nice. I think it's weird if you are at a position of any kind of power to not realize that your biggest strength is being kind and good to the people that are holding you up. I just don't understand how people think that fear is what's going to create good work. It just doesn't. The tone you set, which will come specifically on Sorry For Your Loss and for me on Flight Attendant, that exact tone, it's all you. It's all coming back to you and how you're acting and how you're treating everyone and it's kind of unreal the kind of set you can create for yourself. Yeah. And for everyone around you. That was a big deal for Paul Bettany and I, both on WandaVision because we hadn't had the opportunity to, because we were always a part of the Avengers ensemble films and so it was really important to us when we were doing this show for that to be the vibe and we had the greatest time making it even though it was impossible. The whole every day felt impossible but I think we all had so much fun. Wanda? Where's Geraldine? Oh, she left, honey. She had to rush home. What do you think about all the, there were a bunch of like fan theories with WandaVision. Did you read into that at all? Did you? No, I was filming a movie this whole time. What about the what is grief scene? Did you know that was going to be like a whole thing or? What is that? What's the what is grief scene? The what is grief, the what is grief. Oh, if not, yeah, if not, if not, if not love persevering, that's so funny. Yes, if not love persevering. So this is funny because both of our shows do this. We talk about characters that have immense trauma. Yes. And then we go back to the experiences that led up to that moment. Our shows both have that in common. And I actually was very worried about that episode, the penultimate episode, where we go back in time with Katherine and myself and we replay these moments that we actually haven't seen in the MCU. Some of them we just kind of steal moments from but we reshot all these moments that we've alluded to. And I just didn't know how we were going to piece it together. It all felt, it all felt like, oh God, are they going to be with us? Are they going to be with us? You know, are we going to lose them here? Are they going to be with us? And I thought about that when you guys were trying to explore or not trying to, when you guys were exploring the relationship that she had with her father and her brother and the accident and, you know, all the things, everything that comes out through the flashbacks. And I don't know. If you either have your audience or you don't is what I think. And you just kind of like swing for the fences and just hope that people are moved by it or now understand something on a deeper level. That's such a good way to look at it. It definitely felt that way with Flight 10. And when we were doing like the Mind Palace and stuff, I was feeling that way too. It was like, are they going to be like, what is, what? But you're right. They're either with you or they're not. They're either on board. And you can't, you can't help it. You can't think of what people are thinking when they're watching. I know. Just let it go. You just dive in. And yeah, you got to forget about all that or you'll make yourself crazy. Do you feel like there's a certain moment in your career where you found your sweet spot of what makes you feel like, oh, this, this feels good. I think I finally know how to maneuver in this land confidently. It's weird because I have been doing this for so long that I don't know another life. And I don't know, it's weird. I wasn't the actor who got kind of thrown to the wolves that maybe did a huge project and was overnight fame. And that wasn't my experience. I've just kind of been like, I laugh because when Flight Attendant came out, there was an article that came out that said the new girl, Kaley Cuoco. And my team and I laughed so hard. I was like. Oh, that is so funny. Do they not know? Like, we felt like we got away with something that all of a sudden, because obviously the biggest concern was like, oh, you're going to be known as Penny forever, which by the way, if I was great, that was like awesome. Isn't that the biggest syndicated show in the world? Like, that would have been fine. So to be able to, fine, yes, I'm Penny. I love that. The new girl. And we laughed so hard. I'm like, oh my God. Like I was almost laughing in the corner, thinking I got away with something that no one saw. And all of a sudden I was here. I think just as a producer, maybe I feel very, my feet feel on the ground as a producer. Like I didn't think, I don't know if you always dreamed of being a producer. I did not. I'm like an actor. And I, then I go, I like all of my other life. I have, you know, I like my life. I like my personal life. I don't want to. And I think I knew, oh my God, I'm gonna have to give so much of myself as a producer. And I give so much in other ways that I didn't know if I could. And I felt this stride as a producer. I feel like I had a strong opinion. I like controlling things. I like picking things. I like judging. Yeah. It's like, I got an opinion about everything. Oh, baby girl. I'm gonna tell you about it. Do you find though, now that you've been behind the scenes as a producer and you've seen how hard it is, I have much more empathy towards everything. I'm always like, oh, you made a show. You should, wonderful. Like, I am so proud of everyone because I know how freaking hard it is. I had empathy before, but it has completely expanded knowing, like people don't want to make things that are okay. I think I had a hard time finding, surprisingly, my voice as a producer until James Ponsel was a director and producer on Sorry If You're Lost. He really nurtured me into expressing myself. I think it started being around like episode three of season one. Then I found a flow and then I found my confidence in thinking how to have my voice. And now I think I actually have a hard time just being an actor when I see things where I'm just thinking, why are you doing it that way? And so during WandaVision, I really did enjoy being just an actor, but also because of the way Matt Schaffman, our director, worked because of Jack Schafer, our creator, and Mary Lovanos, who is our Marvel producer, they almost included Paul and I like producers. Do you think you'll do a second season of WandaVision? I'm sure everyone's, oh no, you're done. No, yeah, it's definitely a limited series. Limited series. I mean, I'm saying that. We said it was a limited series. Whatever. I mean, with Marvel, you can never say no. People die. That's true. No, you're right. You're right. I really thought I had a major scoop for the entire world just now, but then she took it back very quickly, as you saw. I don't know. I would be shocked. The thing that I did learn through Sorry If You're Lost and WandaVision is I love doing television, and I do miss, I think, the four- or five-week experience of making a film, and it just feels so exciting. I camp for a little bit, but I think this six-month experience of really hard work with the same people, and it's exhausting. It just feels really good. You obviously have done film, but the majority has been television. I'm such a TV girl. I shot a film last year right after Flight Attendant. I went right to that set. It was a Kevin Hart film, and it was such a... I don't know how you... Because this is more normal for you to go from TV to film sets. It was... I felt like the littlest fish in the ocean of the... I didn't know what... I'm like, these trailers... I was like a child. The trailers were huge. I couldn't go... You don't have big trailers on a big day? Well, it just felt different. We were on a stage for 12 years, by the way. No trailers. You had a room. We were indoor cats, as we call ourselves. Oh, my God. Oh, yeah. I had the dressing room only queens can imagine. It was the princess room of life. We were like a full... It was like our house. Oh, sweet. We never did the trailer thing. Also, the other... This is like side note. They'll probably cut this, but it makes me laugh. Because we never used mic packs on Big Bang, that was this other challenge for me. Oh, my God. Are they the worst? I would walk in, and the poor sound department must have thought I despised them, because I'm like... Yeah, that's how I feel when they're trying to figure out where to put my mic pack when I'm in a superhero costume with a harness on, because I have to fly. And where the mic pack goes is right where the harness and the cords need to go. And I'm like, you guys, I'm going to be flying. There's no fake wind. You're not going to hear me anyway. I'm going to have to ADR the whole thing anyway. Doesn't matter. But again, that's their job, and they've got... We need sound, by the way, very important. But I could not... I'm like, I've got to find a way to make this work for all of us, because this is not working. With sitcom, when it comes to continuity, because you have the multi-camera, right? Yeah, four cameras. So with... Four cameras. So you don't have to do as many takes, I would imagine, as you would when you filmed Flight Attendant. That was another eye-opening experience. So did you not enjoy then the continuity part? Because I actually... There's something about continuity that I love, because I actually really love structure. Like, I will go... I don't really... Like, sometimes I'll care about blocking, but for a lot of the sitcom stuff, I was like, Matt Jackman, where do you need me at what point? And I'll figure out how to get there. I love structure. And I think with structure, you can have so much energy. And yeah, I love it. So with continuity and editing for Flight Attendant, how is that for you? Especially with all the multiple takes. Did you then do all the multiple takes from every single angle? Oh, yeah. Yeah. What's funny is, Big Bang, I mean, by season five on, when we would shoot our show, our live show, Tuesday night, live show, audience show, I mean, we did like two takes. And by the way, there were no close-ups. You don't really get close-ups. So the first- You're so good in a close-up though. My God. Those first times when they were here and I was like, why are you supposed to make eight? We got in like, no, no, no. That took, that was all very eye-opening for this girl. Let me tell you. It's so brilliant. You have so many subtleties. I mean, it was really a joy to watch. Well, I feel the same way about you. I honestly could not adore you more. You are one of the good ones in this business. You are going to have a very long career and I love watching you and I love running into you. And I really- I do too. I love running into you. Well, I am so happy for you and I can't wait to see everything that comes out. You're wonderful. And I loved doing this with you today. I did too. I love doing this with you today. This is, I want to do all my interviews like this now. Me too. Instant best friends. I knew it was going to happen. I was just waiting for the moment.